


Dreams of quaffles and blue skies

by SweetAlphaChild



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Coming of Age, Drabble Collection, Egg sitting, First Love, Friendship, Growing Up, Gryffindor!Deidara, M/M, Naruto Magic Week 2019, Quidditch, Room of Requirement, Room of Requirement Shenanigans, Slice of Life, Slytherin!Obito, Was meant to be a oneshot but my hand slipped, all characters and pairings are minor, except obidei
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-06-02 09:15:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19438432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetAlphaChild/pseuds/SweetAlphaChild
Summary: A collection of drabbles about two boys, their birds, their friendship and their love for Quidditch.For day 7: Skyward bound





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am so sorry. I tried to make this short, I really did but here I am splitting it in two. I had this idea back in March when I read about Naruto Magic Week and read the prompt. I got so excited and hyped about it that came up with lots of headcanons for this AU, most of them I don't think I'll get to use T.T (Thank you Lybra and Mojo for helping with that). I have been working on this fic since March, and I can't believe I'm finally publishing it. Yay!  
> I thought Deidara would be a great Quidditch player since he's always flying on his creations in the manga, and of course, he had to meet Obito. *_* Haven't written something so wholesome in a long time lol.
> 
> This event has been amazing and I'd like to thank the hosts for making it possible!
> 
> Hogwarts is in the Land of Lakes, which is inspired in Scotland the actual location of the castle.  
> Tsunade Senju is Head Master.
> 
> Obito's wand: Cedar, Dragon, 13 1/2", Quite Bendy  
> Deidara's wand: English Oak, Phoenix, 13", Supple

"Double herbology class on Fridays after lunch," Kurotsuchi said, her voice tinged with annoyance.

Deidara yawned at the thought and unfolded his own time table.

“Good thing I'm not in Slytherin. Although that History of magic class on Monday morning is gonna send me back to sleep, hm.”

“Professor Kakuzu is older than Grandpa. Sometimes he tells us interesting stuff, but remember when I fell asleep during his lesson last year and left me hanging upside down with that gross black threads spell."

"Gross," Deidara's nose wrinkled.

"He told us that when he was a student, teachers did worse things to lazy kids.”

“But we aren't in his times! I hope he never touches me with those... Tendrils.”

Kurotsuchi cringed.

“It's actually quite disgusting. Can you pass me another gingerbread lizard?”

Kurotsuchi held out her hand. Deidara rummaged in his leather pouch and pulled out a glass jar. A small, bulging-eyed lizard came out when he unscrewed the lid. Catching it, he left it in his friend's hand.

The flight of a bird of prey he had never seen before distracted him, and before he could close the jar again, a few more ginger lizards escaped and started to run around his tunic. Deidara watched it glide across the courtyard until he was perched on a bench next to a Slytherin boy who read a book. Next to him there was a large trunk and what seemed to be a Kamui Blackhole resting on it. After failing several times to draw his owner's attention, the bird jumped and took the book between his claws.

Deidara chuckled, watching as the boy rushed to retrieve his book.

“I've never seen him before at school.”

Kurotsuchi looked in the same direction as him.

“It's Obito Uchiha, third year. You really don't know him?”

“No, not him. I was talking about that...” Deidara squinted.

Harris hawk. He was sure it was a harris hawk. He had no interest in the boy at all, but the bird... That bird was beautiful. Majestic.

“Why didn't I see it coming?”

If Deidara had been looking at her, he would have seen her roll her eyes. But he was too busy at that moment not missing a single detail of the sight in front of him. He got up, still smiling.

“I have to say hello, hm.”

“Seriously? You're gonna ditch me for an eagle?”

Deidara was already too far away to answer that it wasn't an eagle.

"Hi, gorgeous," as soon as he saw him, the hawk left the book and flew toward him, resting on his arm to catch one of the gingerbread lizards with its beak.

“Hello...? Do we know each other?” The boy asked.

“I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to... What's his name?”

He looked at him for the first time. He didn't seem happy to hear that, which wasn't his business really. Deidara wondered vaguely what had happened to his face.

"Tobi," the Slytherin boy said, checking the claw marks on the cover of the copy of 'Quidditch through the ages' he had just recovered.

At that moment Tobi caught the last lizard and swallowed it while Deidara stroked his head. The brown tone of his feathers turned reddish under the sunlight.

“Tobi is a good bird, hm.”

“And you shouldn't give him biscuits when he's done nothing to deserve them. Look at the state of my new book!”

Deidara took out his wand and pointed it at the book.

"Reparo," he said, nonchalant. “I think Tobi likes me.”

“He only went to you because you had treats.”

“I hope to see you again around Hogwarts, hm,” he said to Tobi before spinning around and leaving, happy to have made a new friend.

* * *

He took a three-coloured Bertie Botts jellybean. Deidara put it against the light and looked through it. White, green and pink was obviously a suspicious combination, it could taste like rotten meat.

“You remember the eagle boy from yesterday? The one I told you was in third year?” Kurotsuchi said, sitting in an empty chair at the Gryffindor table, after breakfast.

“It's not an eagle, hm.”

Deidara was completely sure it would taste gross. He left it inside his pocket along with the others and grabbed a new one from the box, pearly white.

“Who cares? Anyway... Now he's in my class! He got held back a year! Can you believe it!? Nobody has repeated second year at Hogwarts in more than a century! That's what everyone is saying.”

“I wish there were a spell to reveal their flavour.”

“Stop complaining and put it in your mouth like the Gryffindor you don't seem to be. Who would have thought you would be scared of a bloody Bertie Botts bean?”

“I'd rather eat tasty things, thanks!” Deidara rubbed his chin, thinking of an idea. “I may have to invent that spell, if it doesn't exist.”

“They're spell proof! Let me show you how to do it, frog brain.”

Kurotsuchi reached into the box, pulled out a reddish bean with yellow flecks and popped it in her mouth.

“What is it?”

"Lasagna," she said, nodding. “I like lasagna. Come on. Eat that!”

To stop giving her reasons to call him a coward, Deidara did it. It had a strong chemical flavour and a lemony aftertaste.

"Muggle glue, I think," Deidara said.

"Ew," she replied, her lip curled upwards.

"It's not that bad, hm," Deidara got distracted from the conversation when he saw the bird that had just entered through one of the open windows. It was Tobi. “I'll be right back.”

Excited, he took two strips of fried bacon and stood up. Tobi had just landed on his owner's arm to deliver a letter, who had just stood up from the Slytherin table.

“Hello Tobi! Look what I brought you, hm!”

He reached out, wiggling the bacon in front of him until he grabbed it with his beak to gobble it up.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," the boy said, with an attitude.

“Oh, hello, Tobi's owner.”

He lifted his eyes for less than a second, then he carried on staring at the bird as he ate, mesmerized.

“I can't believe that even my pet is more popular than me.”

Too busy observing Tobi, Deidara took a few seconds to realize he expected him to reply to that.

“What's wrong? You don't look happy, hm.”

If Tobi were his, Deidara would never be in a bad mood. There he remembered vaguely that Kurotsuchi had just told him the boy was redoing year two, that could be why he was upset.

“Well, maybe because the only thing that you find interesting about me is Tobi. Did it cross your mind that perhaps it was polite to bring something to me too?" The Slytherin boy didn't sound friendly and in a way he was right. Deidara shrugged. “If you want me to let you keep playing with Tobi you'll have to bring me a treat. And greet me properly. And learn my name at least! My name is Uchiha Obito not 'Tobi's owner'!”

Deidara fumbled in the pocket of his robe until he found the discarded potentially-disgusting jellybeans. He took a handful and offered them to the boy in front of him.

“Happy now?” Deidara stroked Tobi's neck with one finger, playing with his feathers. “Merlin, you're so gorgeous.”

Turning around, he went to prepare the books for the first lesson of the year.  
.  
Obito stared at the handful of jellybeans that the Gryffindor boy had given him. He hadn't expected him to take his demand seriously, but at least he would have something to eat between meals if he went hungry in defense against the dark arts. Being honest with himself, the interactions with Tobi's fan were the best thing that had happened to him after all those pitiful whispers and scathing comments from all the others. Leaving aside the bullying he got from Tobirama Senju, Slytherin house's very ghost.

At least he wasn't there to make fun of him, although it bothered Obito he ignored him like that. Was he so uninteresting that even Tobi snatched away all the attention?

Tobi picked a pinkish brown bean. That had to be the worm flavoured one then. Obito thanked Tobi for being gifted at finding gross flavors, but he was eating too many jellybeans. Or perhaps he was also eating the good ones this time, thing that his weirdo of a bird never did. Or perhaps his usual bad luck had made that not even in a random handful of Bertie Botts beans, there'd be a single nice one. He could totally imagine it at that point.

"Hey, that's enough," Obito protested, not knowing if it was one reason or the other. “Now go back to the aviary, I have classes.”

He moved his hand away and studied the remaining beans. There would be no more than ten now. Better than nothing, he told himself. He chose the one that caught his attention the most, a three-coloured one. Obviously, it was a bad one, that was a terrible colour combination. He thought of moldy meat, but his life was already awful enough for him to get more upset because of a bad jellybean so he popped it in his mouth.

It tasted like rice flour, sweet anko paste and green tea. Obito smiled for the first time in the whole week. A dango flavoured bean.

* * *

"Get in pairs," professor Orochimaru instructed, standing in front of his cauldron.

Get in pairs. The most odious three-word combination for Obito. He was already feeling the pang of anxiety forming. He was hoping that teachers would wait a a bit more before starting with that kind of nonsense. He could work perfectly well on his own, it wasn't just because he knew he would be the last one to be picked or the loose end as always, it was that...

“Tobi's owner is mine, hm.”

The next second, the Gryffindor boy was glued to his arm, before the rest of the class had even started to move. Obito was left speechless, staring at the smiling boy. He had saved him from the usual embarrassment, which didn't mean he understood his obsession with Tobi, but he was grateful nonetheless. For the first time since he arrived at Hogwarts they had chosen him first in something.

"Call me Obito," he said, and fearing he might forget it, he repeated it. “O-bi-to.”

He was still grinning, and Obito wished he and not his bird was the reason.

“Fine. I am Deidara.”

“Deidara-nii!” Kurotsuchi, one of his new classmates approached them. “Are you actually gonna ditch me!? I thought we'd go together!”

“Me too, but life has those unexpected twists, hm,” the boy still wouldn't let go of his arm.

“It's not fair, we went together last year! You're obsessed with that bird, at first it was funny but it's getting old already!”

The girl grabbed his other arm and tried to pull him away. Fear seized Obito once more. They couldn't just take his partner away, the only person who had chosen him voluntarily and not because a teacher told them to. Obito refused to let him go. Tightening his grip he pulled to the opposite side.

"Deidara chose me," he said.

“I don't care, we've always been together in potions!” The girl pulled again.

“But he wants to be with me!”

Obito wasn't gonna loose his grip any time soon.

“Yeah, fight for me, hm.”

“Yeah, fight for him, I could use a few students in detention to scrub some cauldrons for me.”

Professor Orochimaru's neck had stretched until his face was in front of theirs. The three of them stopped and deciding it wasn't worth getting detention for that, they decided to resolve the conflict in a different way. Kurotsuchi released Deidara without saying anything and sat next to Anko. Obito sighed, his shoulders relaxing.

“Thank you for not leaving.”

“You're welcome. How 's Tobi, by the way?”

“He's not here today. I sent him to deliver a letter,“ he was so happy to finally have a partner that he wasn't bothered by Deidara's excessive interest in Tobi. “I remember stuff from last year, the first potion is the Fire-Breathing Brew."

Deidara's eyes shone with interest.

“Cool!”

“And I wrote down some tricks that don't come in the book.”

"Take five mint leaves from this box and pass it to the couple next to you," Orochimaru said, handing the box to a student from the front row who did as she was told.

“So, what's the plan?”

Smiling, Obito took a deep breath, eager to impress Deidara and happy to feel useful as long as he had that advantage over the others.

“For a start, take seven mint leaves instead of five.”

* * *

Deidara placed the shaky chest on the ground, took his Shooting Star 7 and caught the stick between his legs while he tied his hair up. Then he put the quaffle inside the training cannon. Ready to start. He pulled his wand out and pointed at the chest's lock. He would only have a couple of seconds to get away from those bludgers and he wasn't planning to let them catch him if he wanted to impress Kisame, the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain in the following year's entrance tests. There hadn't been any vacancies that year, but the next there would be two and one of them was gonna be his.

“Alohomora!” he exclaimed.

Kicking the ground, he soared into the air. If everything went well, in a year he would be training with the Gryffindor team in that same field. He left the stands below, until he was at the same height as the rings. Two dark blurs approached him. He got out of the way by turning the broom handle, one of them whistled past his ear. Perhaps two bludgers were too many, but one wasn't good enough to stand out among the other candidates.

Deidara stopped rising to fly parallel to the ground. He heard the firing of the training cannon and saw the quaffle shoot out into the air. He turned the broom around to go catch it and descended a few meters to let the bludgers pass over his head. Good catch. It would be better if he had someone to practice with, he might try to convince Kurotsuchi next time. Maybe he could convince her to join the Slytherin team. That would make things interesting.

A moving figure distracted him, and as he turned his head he saw Tobi flying towards him.

“Hey!” He smiled, he didn't know what he was doing there but was glad to see him. “Be careful.”

Both started flying next to each other. Watching him glide, Deidara stopped caring about the bludgers. Sometimes the bird would fly up or down to dodge a ball but then came back to his side.

“You're crazy... But I like that, hm.”

And where was Obito? A quick glance at the ground was enough to see he wasn't there.

“Tobi, come here,” the bird obeyed, perching on the stick of his broom, for that, he would give him lots of treats later. “Have you come to see me on your own?”

What was he doing, waiting for a reply?

“Well, we can train together. You can keep me company," he gave a sharp turn to move away from the ball. “And I have snacks down in my bag!”

A Slytherin student was running across the field. He squinted, placing a hand over his eyes, it was Obito. Deidara descended. Just what he needed, someone else to train with him. He couldn't practice shots on his own. His feet touched the ground again and Obito stopped in front of him, panting and bending forward with his hands on his knees.

“Phew... There... You were... Don't do that again!”

“Tobi came to watch me train. We're friends now, hm.”

“But I needed him to deliver a letter!”

Deidara shook him head.

“Come on, let him have a bit of fun. It can't be that urgent.”

“That is not the...! Watch out!”

Obito fixed his eyes on a point above his head. Turning, Deidara saw one of the bludgers go straight to them. He crouched quickly at the last second.

“From bludger to pillow!” he shouted with a hasty wand movement.

And a white and rounded cushion crashed against Obito's face. Deidara laughed out loud, half amused half impressed. He took the cushion and threw it into the trunk.

“Hey! That was a cool spell. I barely managed to transform a rabbit into a shoe yesterday. I didn't expect that.”

“Well... No one expects much from me. Not even myself. But at least, spending the whole summer with a private tutor has paid off.”

“Boring.”

Deidara had spent the summer doing nothing except spending the day with Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, organizing flying races, sculpting with clay and eating ice cream. He barely went back home except to eat and sleep. He felt sorry for Obito, enslaved the entire summer by a private tutor.”

“I want to think it was worth it.”

“Hey, and how come you got held back?” Deidara asked as he accio'd the loose bludger back to the trunk.

“Well,” now the boy looked upset. “I admit I didn't do much. I wanted to join the Slytherin Quidditch team last year and I didn't make it. I spent the year practicing, my friend stopped helping me with homework when she realized I wasn't taking it seriously so I gave up studying and focused on what I really wanted...”

“But that's a good thing! That means you must have improved a lot, so they'll choose you, hm.”

They both sat on the bludger trunk which didn't stop shaking.

“Actually, I'm not that good. I have improved but... I doubt enough to be on the team. I thought that training would make me improve but I was wrong. I should give up.”

Deidara frowned. Was he stupid or what? He took him by the shoulders and made him turn towards him. Obito took a step back but couldn't free himself from his grip.

“If you give up you will waste all that effort!”

“Why waste even more?”

“Are you a Slytherin or not!?”

“Yes I am but...”

“You are gonna attend that entrance test and you are gonna humiliate the other candidates so much that they'll cry themselves to sleep!”

“Am... I?”

“Yes, hm!”

Something seemed to change in his gaze, it was less insecure now, more determined.

“That's it!” he exclaimed at last.

“And you're not just getting yourself in, you're going to be captain some day!”

“I will!” Obito grabbed him by the shoulders, too. “You're right! I will be captain!”

"Good," Deidara nodded, happy with his answer. “Now let's train.”

“But I have to write forty centimeters of parchment on the magic legacy of the Pictish people for tomorrow.”

“Shit, me too,” Deidara had completely forgotten, now he could see the consequences of taking Quidditch seriously. He stood up, ready for nothing to stop him, not even the Pictish people. “Go get your broom, we'll train and then we'll go to the library and do the homework. First things first.”

"And I can sneak dinner in, so we'll have more time.”

"I like you, hm," said Deidara.

Obito started running towards the castle, but after a few meters he turned back to Deidara.

“By the way... Is your friend still mad at you because of me?” he asked, an apology in his eyes.

“Nah. She's fine now.”

What he didn't tell him was that later, he would have to lend her the parchment he'd write. Slytherins.

* * *

Deidara wanted to watch Slytherin team's entrance tests to cheer on Obito, but he had asked him not to go. He said that if he knew he was there, he was gonna get even more stressed and fail. Taking care of Tobi was making him forget his impatience. He and his owl got along, except at snack time when Katsu got territorial with the jerky strips he was handing out.

But he had ran out of things to do. He had had enough time to practice charms and try to read the text of defense against the dark arts due on Monday but he couldn't concentrate. He wasn't hungry either, and at that time his stomach was usually asking for lunch. Obito had to be about to arrive, or so he hoped.

“Dei!”

Immediately, Deidara stood up. Obito came running down the wooden bridge. Eager to know about the test, he left everything behind and ran to him instead of waiting for him to arrive.

“How did it go?”

“Dei! I was so nervous! They told me I had to stop and...! Ten times! My hands were shaking! I don't even know how...! Anko released three bludgers, she enjoyed watching me suffer! Professor Orochimaru was there and I was like 'oh, shit', well it's normal he's the head of our house...! Then I regret about telling you not to come, I would have had more reasons to do it well and you would have protected me from his evil aura but it was too late to let you know!”

Obito went on and on, barely stopping to breathe.

“I haven't understood a single thing. Have they accepted you or not?”

“Yes!” Deidara didn't see coming when Obito released his broom, hugged him by the waist, lifted him in the air and started spinning around, giggling. “Yes they have accepted me! I'm a keeper! I am Slytherin's keeper now!”

He kept spinning around, Deidara was getting dizzy.

“Congratulations, hm! But stop!”

Obito left him on the floor again, the smile didn't leave his face.

“This is thanks to you.”

“Nah. You are better than you think.”

"But I needed moral support,” His eyes glazed over. "You have no idea how long I've been wanting this. I never fully believed I would actually achieve it some day, and now hat it happened I still don't. There were people from years five and six in there.”

He sobbed.

“Year five should be studying for their OWLs and leaving Quidditch to those who take it seriously anyway, hm. You deserve to be there.”

"Still, thank you," more calm, Obito hugged him again. “Now I'll have to train with them. But I would like us to carry on training together too. I had a good time.”

“I wasn't going to let you escape, either.”

“And you aren't my rival yet.”

Parting, they picked up their brooms and walked toward patio.

“I wouldn't like to be the keeper, though," Deidara said. “If I had to stand still in front of the poles while the others have fun, I'd end up burning something.”

“It's true, you look more like a chaser. But I warn you that I won't let you score.”

“And I tell you that I plan to score every single time, hm.”

"We'll see," Obito's half smile disappeared as he sat on the bench and took out a cookie for Tobi. I just hope Madara doesn't find out. He made me promise I would forget about Quidditch and focus on my grades.”

"Don't be daft," Deidara sat next to him and stroked Tobi's head. “You just entered the Slytherin team, why are you worried about his opinion? Tell him you have been admitted, that is what you really wanted and to get over it.”

“It's true, this is what I wanted,” the boy smiled again, lately he didn't look so sad compared to the start of the term. “But for now, only for now, we won't tell him.”

* * *

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea," Obito let out a deep sigh as he adjusted his shin guards. “I'm going to make a fool of myself.”

With his arms crossed, Deidara watched him get ready. Out of fear of being late Obito had made Deidara promise he wouldn't let him waste time and be late. In the end, they had arrived too early. No one in the Slytherin team had arrived to the locker room yet.

"It's just Hufflepuff," he said, trying to encourage him.

“Don't. Say. That! Every year someone says the same thing and every year Hufflepuff shuts their mouths,” Obito covered his right knee with the knee pad and fastened the strap on the back side. ”I cannot start underestimating my rivals. This is serious... Why did you let me do it Dei? You should have stopped me...! Um... Can you help me with the chest pad?”

Deidara took it, adjusted the shoulder pads and closed the zipper on his back.

“I'm going to the infirmary and I'm bringing you some Draught of Peace, if you play like that you're going to let those badgers score as they please, hm.”

“I don't need Draught of Peace! I need to be awake and not fall asleep on the broom! Bring me coffee, lots of coffee!”

Obito already looked as if someone had casted the jelly legs curse on his whole body. He didn't need coffee. Deidara grabbed his shoulders and made his friend face him. A tear was running down his face.

“This is your dream, you dumbass.”

“Dei, they're all gonna see me. They're all gonna see me making a fool of myself.”

“Then don't make a fool of yourself! Kick their asses!”

“That's foul.”

"Do it anyway," Deidara said, making him laugh. “Using the sleeve of his robes, he harshly wiped his friend's face. “And calm down before everyone sees you like that.”

He handed him his gloves and Obito put them on.

“Also the keeper is the least important position. No matter how many times I stop the quaffle, the other team only needs to find the snitch to win. Most of the time.”

“But,” Deidara looked in a Quidditch manual that was lying on a shelf and turned the pages in search of the chapter dedicated to best stops. “You get to do this.”

The photo showed a keeper on a broom kicking the quaffle while doing a full flip, sending the ball far away.

"The Chilean kick," he added.

“Well it's cool, but I still can't do that. We have to practice it more for the match against Ravenclaw.”

Obito didn't look as nervous anymore. Deidara smiled at him and pulled a Slytherin flag from his pocket.

“I'll be rooting for you from the stands.”

“Oh, thanks. You don't see many from Gryffindor doing that.”

“That's because I don't root for Slytherin. I root for you, hm.”

“Dei...”

He gave him a big hug before the first players started to enter the locker room. When they parted, Deidara waved the flag while making an encouraging gesture with his fist. Deidara couldn't wait to enter the team, too, face Obito and try to score. It was going to be fun.

Instead of heading to the Gryffindor sector, he looked for Kurotsuchi and sat next to her, forcing a gap between herself and the boy who had sat beside her.

“Deidara-nii! You came to cheer us up!”

“If our rivals don't do it well, it's boring,” he answered.

Several house elves were walking through the bleachers offering snacks, but Deidara wasn't hungry. He was too excited, couldn't wait to see Obito play.

"I think I'm gonna join the team too," Kurotsuchi said. “It looks exciting to be up there.”

"Good," Deidara answered. “I hope we face each other soon.”

If Kurotsuchi could get a position in the Slytherin team, it would motivate him even more to beat them. A while later both teams went out onto the field and in the Slytherin sector everyone stood up amid cheers and banners thrown into the air.

Watching Obito march with his elegant Kamui Blackhole in his hand, Deidara cheered with them.

* * *

With a kick, Obito sent the quaffle several meters above their heads. Deidara went up to catch it and threw it back from that angle. That time he managed to score. Since the day Obito arrived at his house they had trained every afternoon and he struggled to score as the days went by.

“It's your turn to go and get the ball, hm.”

Obito went down to the tree where the quaffle was stuck.

“Wanna play 'a hundred passes' now? Obito said. “While dinner is ready.”

The sun had set a while ago and the air was starting to cool down. Typical Iwa summer. Deidara's arms had goosebumps all over, but he didn't feel like putting his feet on the ground yet.

“Fine.”

Obito threw the quaffle at him and he maneuvered backwards to catch it. Once in his hand he threw it back, making it difficult for him on purpose. He saw him fly away after the ball so it would't fall and disappear for good.

“Hey! Do it properly!” Obito complained, and he tossed it at him.

“You too, hm!”

After that, both calmed down and went easy on each other.

“Last night I dreamed you were admitted into the Gryffindor team, but you were a seeker.”

“Seeker,” Deidara imagined himself scanning the field in search of the golden snitch, not allowed to do anything else. ”Nah. I told you I want to be where the action is."

“You would be a good seeker, though.”

Deidara giggled.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't," between passes, the conversation went on. “But that position won't be free in one more year and I don't plan to wait any longer. Chaser is what I want to be. And beater... it's a shame they can't score.”

“Everyone wants to be a seeker. I would like to see how you take the position away from all the others.”

“Yes, that would be cool, hm. I would like to test if I can achieve it. Then I would tell them I changed my mind and I'd leave.”

His mother went out to let them know dinner would be ready in twenty minutes and they still weren't half way done.

"We'll be late," Deidara shouted. “We're playing one hundred passes.”

If they failed, the quaffle would become invisible. Deidara hadn't yet been able to find the one they lost the day Obito arrived.

“One hundred passes at dinner time? Deidara, you're gonna make Obito eat his dinner cold.”

“It was my idea really. I'm sorry," he apologized.

At least as a guest he wouldn't get told off and his mother was fond of Obito.

“Okay, I'll leave it on the fire a bit more. Don't forget to take a bath before going to the table.”

When she left, Deidara flew to Obito to high five him.

“Good thing you're here, if not I would have been lectured.”

“Let's hurry up anyway. I'm hungry.”

Both concentrated on finishing the game with faster and riskier passes. If it fell, they wouldn't be able to play again unless someone found it to cast a finite incantatem.

Luckily everything went well and they were able to go for a bath and prepare for dinner sooner than they calculated. 

.  
It was easy to get used to live in Deidara's house. Obito lived in a much larger and emptier house in the Noble and Most Ancient House of Uchiha neighbourhood. Madara was always busy and he didn't want to bother him more than he already did, Zetsu and Guruguru always agreed with him, like every domestic elf did, so it wasn't that satisfying to talk to them and the portraits of his ancestors weren't that chatty either. His private tutor was the person he talked to the most, leaving aside the letters he and Deidara wrote almost daily.

Obito had missed him, and still did it even though he had Deidara standing next to him, only thinking that in a week Zetsu would return to apparate him back in Konoha.

In Deidara's house there were many sounds and movement. Figures of white clay that jumped from shelf to shelf or fluttered near the ceiling. Ceramic plates with flowers that changed colours, or stars on a dark background that seemed to shine as if they had light of their own, if you were lucky, you could even see a shooting star.

Deidara's mother was interested in their anecdotes at Hogwarts, gave them advice on Quidditch and had magically enlarged a pair of Deidara's pajamas for him, when Obito discovered he had forgotten his own at home. Some nights after dinner, they played some magical board game, and others, like that one, she sent them to brush their teeth and go to sleep when they finished their dessert.

She had set up another futon right next to Deidara's. After conjuring an anti-heat spell, she said good night and left.

“Your mother is so kind, I hope I'm not causing trouble,” Obito said as soon as they were alone.

“Pfft,” Deidara laid down and covered himself with the sheets. “It was her who got all stressed out when I told her you were an Uchiha. She told me you weren't as she expected, but she likes you.”

“What did she expect?” Obito was afraid to ask.

“Mmm, someone more serious.”

“You would be surprised to know how many people think the same thing.”

“If you were the typical stuck-up snob I wouldn't like you, hm.”

Seeing Deidara wrinkling his nose made him smile.

“Then it's good that I'm not,” the days flew by, Obito placed his arms like a pillow, wishing he could stop time. “If only I could stay one more day at least. I don't have anyone to practice with at home.”

“Do it, tell your dad that one more day won't change much.”

“He won't understand it. He already made a drama about the private lessons I was going to miss,” Obito made an impression of Madara in a low and mocking voice. "You can go only if you carry on practicing occlumency and legeremancy on a daily basis, yadda yadda..."

Obito sat up suddenly, just remembering about that. Shit. He was in trouble.

“What's wrong?”

“I haven't practiced my exercises yet. I forgot completely!”

“Wow... Are you really practicing that? They're quite advanced spells.”

“It's a family tradition, dad insisted. I'm still quite rubbish at it.”

“And can you read minds?”

“I can only access the immediate memory and for a very short time. It's a miracle that I managed to do it at all.”

Excited, Deidara crossed his legs on the futon.

“Let's see! Guess the word I'm thinking about, hm.”

“I don't always get it right, mind you. But I need my wand. Where did I put it?”

Obito looked under his pillow, rummaged through his entire luggage and opened the drawer where Deidara used to leave his. He found his there and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't laugh," he said, Deidara ignored him until he saw he pointed at him with his wand. Obito concentrated, Deidara too. “Legilimens.”

It was like trying to catch a bird while blindfolded. A minute went by until he managed to feel both minds connecting, and a second later it was gone. But not without leaving a word in his head. Obito let out a weary sigh.

“Penis?”

And Deidara couldn't hold his laugh any longer.

“It worked!”

“Deidaraaa...” he protested.

“I would like to learn too but it looks boring. No wonder you want to stay here.”

Both returned to their futons. Obito was tired, but he'd rather stay awake and chat instead of sleeping. Summer had just started, and he didn't want to spend it studying like the previous one.

“I will ask if you're allowed to visit me.”

“Mmm, I don't know. You haven't told me too many good things about your place.”

“And we can play Quidditch in secret in the Forest of Death.”

“That sounds better," Deidara answered, with a hum of interest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two lovely fanarts by MonroMojo inspired some headcanons in this fic, please have a look at them ^^
> 
> https://twitter.com/MonroMojo/status/1151643555875741702
> 
> https://twitter.com/MonroMojo/status/1114548899937759232/photo/1
> 
> Again, apologies for keep adding chapters, I just came up with too many ideas.

Gray storm clouds threatened to give them a free cold shower at any moment. Deidara dropped a few meters to avoid the bludger Karin threw at him. In front of the poles stood Kisame Hoshikagi riding Samehada. Deidara climbed back up and got ready to launch at the same time that the Gryffindor keeper prepared to stop him.

He had stopped three of his shots already and Deidara wasn't about to let that number increase. As soon as he got face to face with the captain, he pretended to go for the right ring and changed the trajectory to the center ring the moment he saw Kisame moving. He watched him trying to fly back, almost managing to stop him. With a regular broom, he wouldn't have had a chance, but Samehada had won a World Cup to Kirigakure in the past, in the hands of his previous owner. That broom was a legend.

Deidara and the Gryffindor team went down to the ground again and while the rest of the team took care of the equipment, Karin and Kisame approached him.

“I can't believe you've fallen for that trick. Maybe you should take the test too," Karin said.

Kisame rubbed his nape.

“My fault. I didn't expect Deidara to be so quick," he admitted.

“Underestimating me already, huh?” Deidara joked.

Karin shook her head.

“And what about your ruthless reputation, Kisame? Did you leave it in your other tunic? You're becoming a softie! You gotta eat these candidates alive and not live on a reputation you don't strive to maintain!”

Deidara could hardly hold his laughter, doubting who was the real captain of the team. Kisame smiled showing his sharp teeth and pointed at Karin while looking at Deidara.

“She's my right hand for things like these.”

“Cool," Deidara said. “Have I convinced you then?”

“You are good, agile and creative. But,” Kisame did a dramatic pause. Deidara held his breath. “We have to discuss it first.”

“The rest of the teams don't do that!”

“Being good isn't enough, we want the best ones here,” Karin stated.

Then she and Kisame whispered something to each other, staring at him. Deidara was only able to catch something about 'Mars in Sagittarius'. He had Mars in Sagittarius. Were they prying his astral chart too?

"If you go with the rest of the candidates for a moment, we'll let you know in a little while."

Kisame waved him away.

“But first," Karin added, approaching him. "Show me the palm of your right hand.”

“Why, hm?”

“I need to read your hand,” Deidara did as she asked. Karin took his hand and adjusted her glasses. Some of the lines on his palm lit up when she drew them with her wand. “Mh...”

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I've seen enough. You may go.”

Reluctant, Deidara went to sit down with the others while he checked his palm. He hadn't chosen divination as optative subject, but instead care of magical creatures and alchemy, so he had no idea about her conclusions.

None of the presents was his friend. He was the only one from year three, the rest were older students and Hidan from year two, who was rumored to be a vampire. The boy was distracted, playing with a pendant that hung from his neck, an odd red and silver broom laid at his feet. Deidara didn't recognize the model. As the others spoke among themselves, he sat next to him. Impatience was putting him in a bad mood, he better chatted to distract himself.

“Which position are you going for?” the boy asked.

“Any, really,” Deidara answered. “Chaser if I could choose.”

“Good, because beater is mine so you better forget about it.”

Deidara couldn't say he had made a good first impression.

“I just said I didn't want it. And what will you do if they don't choose you?”

“I'll hex them with my signature curse. The piles hex.”

When he smiled, Deidara tried to see his fangs. They weren't pointy, so disappointing.

“Gross,” Deidara would rather speak about more artistic conversation topics.

“That's right. Piles as fat as galleons for everyone.”

It was a relief when Obito appeared, now he could ignore the crazy kid.

“Dei! Did they choose you?”

“Not yet. They are deliberating.”

“How!? But that last time you scored was epic! Kisame didn't even see it! None of the others has done it as well as you! What do they have to deliberate about?”

He could tell that Obito was more worried than him. Deidara just wanted an answer as soon as possible.

“Exactly!”

Obito's presence attracted the others' attention, he watched them whisper stuff and casting glances, but none of them approached them. Deidara had a retort on the tip of his tongue, ready to use it at any time, maybe he was from a rival team, but he was his friend. To distract themselves, they talked about the weekend homework that Deidara hadn't yet touched or planned to. He needed both days to celebrate that he was now part of the Gryffindor team and Obito was gonna celebrate it with him.

After a few minutes that seemed like and eternity, Karin and Kisame approached the group.

“Deidara and Hidan, welcome to the team. The rest, thanks for trying," Kisame said.

Obito and Deidara hugged each other screaming and giggling with joy. It wasn't that he didn't trust his abilities, but their judgment. Hidan got up, dancing like a maniac while the others left.

“We did it! Both of us!”

“And the first game of the season is against Slytherin, soon we'll meet up there, hm.”

“I asked Zetsu to bring me butter beers and Muggle sweets. We must celebrate this!”

Deidara saw Hidan leave, broom in hand after talking to Karin and Kisame. He and Obito stood up.

"Well, well, we got a Slytherin spy," Kisame said, rubbing his chin.

“Obito is not a spy!” Deidara snapped.

“I'm not a spy!” Obito exclaimed at the same time as him.

“Hey, calm down! Kisame was kidding," Karin said, then she looked at Gryffindor's captain. “These two are always together.”

“Yeah, I've seen them train. You've grown a lot this summer, Obito," he said.

“Have I?” Embarrassed, Obito looked at himself. “Wow, I didn't expect a Quidditch legend to be so aware of me.”

“I'm aware of all my rivals, especially the guardians. But you're still a bit scrawny, you have to do more exercise, like me. Push-ups, sit-ups, surfing in the lake...”

“Surfing in the lake?” Deidara raised an eyebrow.

He would never cease to be surprised at everything that was possible at Hogwarts. Kisame took a blow to the arm.

“Have you stopped giving advice to the enemy?” Karin complained.

Both Obito and Deidara got ready to snap again.

"She's joking," Kisame said, patting the girl's head. “The important thing is to have fun, of course.”

“Ha. Now he's the one who jokes,” she answered. Deidara hadn't talked to them that much before, but he liked them. “Right Deidara, tomorrow we will meet in the common room after lunch to get to know our new members and talk about the upcoming Quidditch season. See you there.”

“See you there, hm.”

After the farewells, Obito took a step forward.

“Can I touch Samehada?”

Kisame looked at him before laughing, amused.

"And I can sign you an autograph too, if you want," he stretched out his arm to bring the broom closer to Obito. “Be careful, it bites.”

"That wasn't a joke," Karin added.

* * *

“I hope you're not mad or something.”

Obito barely dared to look at Deidara. He noticed his confusion and concern the moment he did it. He immediately hated himself for being the cause of it and soon he looked away.

"No," he shook his head.

"Sometimes a female hoo-hoo abandons her own eggs," Professor Shizune said, with Tonton always in her arms. “Not much is known about this behavior, which doesn't seem logical from our point of view.”

“But there's something wrong with you, you're acting weird since the day of the match, hm.”

Obito followed the teacher with his gaze as she paced around the classroom, aware that Deidara was staring at him.

“What we do know is that the chicks are very independent, even the newborns, and although vulnerable, they are still able to survive on their own...”

"Don't tell me you're a sore loser," Deidara added. “You're mad because we won.”

“No I'm not!” he snapped as low as he could, but professor Shizune heard him anyway.

“Deidara and Obito, I hope the reason you two are talking and not listening is because you already know the lesson,” her tone was firm, but still friendly, she never told them off too harsh. What embarrassed Obito, was that now everyone was watching them. “Can you tell me then which theory is considered most valid about the egg abandonment?”

Obito was clueless, and he was about to open his mouth to apologize and say something funny that would deter her from taking too many points from Slytherin when Deidara spoke.

“A couple of Hoo-hoos can lay up to thirty eggs per brood, it is believed that the mother abandons those which she feels will be stronger and keeps the weakest to protect them better,” he said, expected of him really, Obito didn't know why he was surprised.

Possibly Deidara would have read the entire book already. Or at least the magic bird section.

“Excellent! That would be five points for Gryffindor, minus two points for speaking in class, makes three points for Gryffindor.”

Professor Shizune resumed the lesson and they listened in silence. Obito had to speak to Deidara but every time the chance arose, he always left it for later, there was a possibility that he would get mad at him and he just couldn't accept it. Obito himself got mad, and he was afraid of what would happen next. What if they grew apart? Like when all his friends from the Konoha pre-Hogwarts academy ended up in different houses and with new friends. Rin in Hufflepuff and Kakashi in Ravenclaw. It was no use begging and arguing with the hat to convince him to put him in Hufflepuff too. And on top of that, Dumbkashi skipped a grade at the same time he was held back in year two.

That lecture from the Slytherin team after their defeat against Gryffindor made him realize how easy he could lose Deidara's friendship as well. He thought it would be fun to play against each other, but maybe that would only bring negativity.

“I have been waiting for this lesson since the start of the term. Are you really going to ruin my day like this?”

The words hurt. Obito swallowed, thick as syrup.

“Yes, there is something I have to tell you,” he finally confessed, if he didn't it would be worse.

“And why haven't you done it yet, hm?”

“I don't want us to fight or argue about it. But after class I'll tell you.”

"Hoo-hoo eggs are very easy to look after. Their magic shell generates all the heat the chick needs to develop and they aren't fussy eaters either," professor Shizune said. “That will be our first annual project.”

Several cries of excitement went through the classroom, and Obito was convinced that Deidara would have joined them if he hadn't put him in a bad mood.

“There are no eggs for everyone, so it will be a project in pairs.”

They both looked at each other, already assuming they would go together. Obito smiled happily, seeing that Deidara wasn't planning to find another partner, even if he was upset with him. Everyone already associated them with each other, and Obito always felt a brief moment of pride and euphoria when someone commented on it.

The egg was a light shade of red that degraded to orange and then to white. It felt hot to the touch. Obito didn't know very well what would come out of there, but he was getting attached to it already. And the idea of taking care of it with Deidara made him happy.

"We have to introduce the new family member to Tobi and Katsu," he said with the egg in his hand.

According to Professor Shizune there was still a month left for the chick to break the shell.

“And we have to talk about why you've been acting weird these days.”

Carefully, Obito put the egg back in the box, over the makeshift nest of cloth.

“After the match, my team said that since we always train together you know all my tricks and my playstyle and that it isn't the best for the team. They want me to stop training with you, Dei...”

“So that's what it was...”

Deidara bit his lower lip, lost in his thoughts. Then he got up and sprinted to the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Obito ran after him.

“To give your team a good talking to, hm!” he said out loud.

“Don't! Wait!” Obito ran past him and blocked his path, Deidara pushed him to try and pass anyway. “Don't tell them anything!”

“Why? But who do they think they are!?”

“I don't want to stop training with you!” Obito was almost too embarrassed to say something so sentimental, his face felt warmer, but he had taken a weight off his shoulders. “We have improved so much this year...! I would never give that up! They say I don't need you anymore because now I can train with the team, but I don't care! I have fun training with you. There is no pressure to get everything perfect, there's no stress about winning the tournament. I don't wanna lose that.”

“My team has made some comments about you too, but they haven't gone so far as to tell me to stop training with you. Of course, if they did I wasn't going to listen either, hm.”

It relieved him so much to hear Deidara say those words, that he felt as if his heart would explode.

“They won't separate us."

“And what are you gonna do? Do you wanna face them yourself?”

“Nope. If they don't know we are still training, they'll be happy and everything will get solved without dramas,” Obito said. “I'd rather have no secrets, but I don't see any other options. I've been thinking of a place where we could meet. A hidden room right here at Hogwarts.”

“I think I've heard something about that too. But I thought it was just a rumor.”

Obito shook his head. He liked the idea of weekly secret meetings with Deidara, it made things more interesting.

“It isn't. And next Saturday I'll show you.”

* * *

“Are you sure we'll be able to play quidditch inside the castle?”

Obito hadn't been there before, but after listening a few conversations in the Slytherin common room so far, he already had an idea of where that place called the Room of Requirement was and how to access it.

"You'll see," Obito said. “Do you think we're already on the seventh floor?”

According to his calculations that seemed to be the one they were after. But sometimes Hogwarts staircases made you believe you were going up when in reality you were going down again.

“This is the fifth floor, it's always been full of those ugly maroon curtains, hm.”

They looked for a different staircase and kept going up. Short of breath, Obito looked for the next clue as soon as they reached the seventh floor.

"We have to find the paintings of Mifune the Samurai and Hanzo the Salamander," he said.

“About sixty yards in that direction.”

When they spun around, they discovered that the voice was coming from a painting behind them. A man dressed in the typical clothes of the Land of Wind watched them from a desertic landscape with a Sphinx and an oasis in the background, he was standing on a floating platform of what appeared to be golden sand.

“Thank you, sir...“ Obito squinted to read the brass plate on the lower part of the frame. “Rasa!”

Deidara grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him toward the corridor.

“I'll go with you. I'm sure they must be fighting without me.”

Following them through different portraits while flying on his platform, he accompanied them. What they found when they reached the huge paintings, was a multiple battle in a snowy landscape. Hanzo the Salamander and Mifune the Samurai were there, and the one he recognized as Gengetsu, a former director of Durmstrang known as the master of mirages, also Mu and his clone whose true appearance nobody knew. Finally they saw Onoki, who was director before Tsunade. Each of them with their wands in their hands, engaged in a chaotic multiple duel in which hexes and protection spells flew from side to side.

“Onoki-sensei!” Deidara yelled.

Obito knew he was Kurotsuchi's grandfather and that he had taught them some spells before going to Hogwarts.

“Deidara! What are you doing here!? Why aren't you in class!?”

“It's Saturday, old geezer.”

“Well, you should be studying anyway! What are you doing with that broom up here!? Nothing good, that's for sure!”

While Deidara argued with his former teacher, Obito went on to the next part of the plan, focusing his mind on what he needed as he passed three times in front of the empty wall next to the paintings: a large place to practice Quidditch with Deidara. He also wondered if he could use the room for other stuff, such as doing some Muggle-style workout, as Kisame had advised him. He had too many questions regarding the way the mysterious room worked. After walking by three times, the door appeared.

“It really worked!” a big grin appeared on his face. “Deidara! Watch this!”

Leaving Onoki's portrait yelling on his own, Deidara joined him.

“Oh, it was actually real. Let's see...”

Deidara opened the door and walked in, leaving Obito behind who took his wand out just in case the whole thing was a prank or something.

It wasn't.

He had never seen a ceiling so high before, nor a room so wide. It reminded him of the huge Konoha Quidditch Stadium, only without the seats. In their place there were beautiful stained glass windows with game scenes. A Ravenclaw player chasing a snitch, two opponents fighting for the quaffle and a pair of Hufflepuff beaters. He was still astonished when Deidara rode his broom and flew toward the hoops. Obito went to the corner where the equipment was kept and examined the shelves full of quaffles, the trunks of bludgers and the snitches. Then he also saw the strange Muggle exercise machines and bookshelves full of books on the subject. Just by thinking about that briefly had been enough, the Room of Requirement had given him both. Obito didn't even know how to use them.

“What is this muggle thing doing here, hm?” Deidara examined one of the machines.

“The room is more effective than I thought, I was thinking about working out aswell and this appeared.”

“And how do they work? Let's try them.” Deidara sat down and grabbed the horizontal bar attached to a rope that hung above his head. Weights in the back rose and fell every time he pulled it.

“Oh! It looks easy!” Obito said. “That must be used to strengthen one's arms.”

"Now you do it, hm," Deidara got up and pointed at the seat.

“I can't believe everything went well, we found a secret place to train together without being seen and I'll be able to have a workout routine,” Obito sat down and tried to pull the bar, but it was harder than he thought after watching Deidara doing it without problems. “Hey! What's wrong with this?”

“I put more weight on it. I'll be your coach, hm. Come on, start working you lazy butt. One, two, one, two.”

“Yes, senpai!” he said, and smiled, it felt good to see Deidara supporting him so much.

And although he still thought he had put too much weight on the thing, Obito carried on.

* * *

“Where's the chick gone?” Obito cooed, covering his eyes with his hands in front of the egg. Deidara shook his head, smiling. “Peek-a-boo!”

He moved his hands off his face.

Professor Shizune had told them that chicks could hear everything they said and even recognize voices when they were close to hatching. So, he and Obito took it everywhere. The experiment supposedly had to do with checking how many human words they could understand in their first weeks of life.

“In a week, Dad Dei will face Ravenclaw and teach them how to play Quidditch.”

Deidara no longer bothered to remind him they weren't really the parents of that egg. Obito was too excited about the idea, and from the first time they saw it roll on its own when they left it on the table and nearly fell over, he was also impatient to see his baby bird. Seeing how close it had been to crash against the floor made him realize how much it grew on him.

“Ravenclaw lost to Hufflepuff. If they lose against us they'll lose all their chances to win the tournament. They will try to win twice as hard.”

“Then you should try thrice as hard! Or quadrice if that's even a word!”

As he already knew what it was all about, Deidara didn't ask any questions. Nor did he tell him off, he also tended to hold grudges. Obito's cousin, Itachi, was on the team and he still didn't forgive the stuck-up idiot for not letting him greet the raven egg they gave him in care of magical creatures after all the hoo-hoo eggs available were gone.

He wished he could steal the egg, ravens were cool and he never had one before. Deidara was starting to feel like some kind of bird hoarder. Instead, he would put all his effort into defeating Ravenclaw. For him and Obito.

“Don't worry, that smarty pants friend of yours won't come within five meters of the quaffle, hm.”

“We trust you, Dei.”

...

When Deidara leaned back on the grass beside him, Obito felt warm tingle on his chest again. He ignored the sensation, watching him stroke the surface of the egg with one finger, which laid on the grass between them.

“I want the chick to be proud of me. I will dedicate them my first goal.”

“And will you dedicate any to me too?” Obito asked.

“I always dedicate them to you. Even the ones I scored during the Slytherin match, hm.”

“Hey!” he protested, somewhat offended.

Deidara stuck out his tongue after which they fell into a comfortable silence. Obito wondered if it wouldn't look weird if he started to play with his friend's hair. He wanted to do it, it smelled like mint and it looked soft and bright. To forget about his whim, he broke the silence.

"We need a name.”

“We can still think about it a bit more. And Kurotsuchi gave me a paper with several names written on it.”

“Have she and Anko already named their chick?”

“Predator, apparently.”

“Imagine a quiet and tame chick with that name.”

Deidara stifled a laugh. Obito didn't miss a single detail of his expression. Lately, it was hard to take his eyes off him.

"I'd like to see that," and another upsetting thought came to his mind, recalling Professor Shizune's lessons. “It's sad to have to survive on your own.”

“Well, they won't do it anymore.”

“I know, but imagine all those abandoned eggs... It's not fair. I know it's what works best for them and all that but...”

As a child, he hated when the parents of all his classmates came to collect them, while Zetsu or Guruguru were waiting for him. Of course it was better than being alone, but the desire to see the woman and the man he only met in photos waiting for him after school never left him completely.

"Enough, Obito," Deidara never understood how he could worry about things that were never going to happen. “He won't be alone.”

Obito took the egg. He felt the chick inside nudging softly against the shell.

“Did you hear that? You won't be alone,” he beamed.

* * *

Slytherin needed Ravenclaw to win if they wanted to have a better chance to win the Quidditch league. In fact, all those who were sitting in the green stands had joined the chants and the shouting supporting their rivals. All of them but Obito, Deidara was sure of that.

His support will be for him and not for Ravenclaw.

“Defend the hoops!” Kisame shouted. “Yahiko, find the damn snitch now!”

The three chasers retreated to the hoops. Kisame had done a great job, allowing the rivals to score just five goals while the inexperience of their new guardian played in their favor. They were winning by two hundred and ten points to fifty. The quaffle practically scored on its own.

It used to happen that when many players in a house graduated at the same time, they had a mediocre performance the following year. It wasn't that they weren't good, but they lacked experience.

Except maybe Kakashi Hatake. His second game and he had scored four of Ravenclaw's five goals. Mounted on an impressive Thousand Birds, Deidara knew that with a bit more practice he'd be unstoppable. He better took notes on his playing style for future reference.

“Well, I will if they let me!” Yahiko complained.

Itachi couldn't catch the snitch even if he saw it, unless Ravenclaw scored twice. He was busying himself flying around Yahiko to distract him while Karin and Hidan tried to protect him from the other team's beaters.

Deidara was hungry. It was almost time for dinner and the sun was about to set. Jealous, he looked at the crowd, eating the snacks the house elves of Hogwarts were giving away. Who the hell was the idiot that came up with the rule of no breaks until the snitch is caught?

Somehow, Ravenclaw scored and Deidara started thinking about throwing someone off their broom. They could still win if they caught the snitch, but if Ravenclaw scored once more they would be lost. To assume that Itachi wasn't tracking it already wasn't an option. He could be waiting for the right moment to go and grab it.

Kisame called him to whisper a plan in his ear.

"Understood," Deidara nodded.

That was gonna be fun.

Ravenclaw would try the same tactic as before to try and score again. Deidara sank, pretending to dodge a bludger and as soon as he saw Darui pass the quaffle towards Kakashi, he went back up and stole the ball. He didn't lose a second to go to the Ravenclaw hoops at full speed followed by the three rival chasers.

“I hope you're looking, Obito!” he went past Aoba and scored.

“Well done, Dei!” Karin shouted.

“Why is the crowd still making such a fuss, hm? Anyone would say that after so many hours they would have had enough,” he understood why when he spun around and saw Yahiko plummeting after something. “The snitch.”

Konan and Darui left their positions to cross his path, also Itachi and both beaters. Karin and Hidan joined too. All of them looked like a furious swarm, and Deidara needed dinner. He wasn't gonna let Yahiko miss his chance. He went down and blocked Itachi.

“Oops, no entry, Uchiha.”

Every time he tried to pass, Deidara moved with him until he winded him up. Itachi tackled him and managed to go through after a few failed attempts. Deidara didn't have time to complain when he heard the triple beep announcing the end of the match and Yahiko drawing loops in the air, howling, the snitch in his hand.

He was sure that even Ravenclaw and Slytherin students would be relieved for not having to spend one more minute there. They had done them a favor after all. Deidara went to join the celebrations with his team while Ravenclaw players descended to the ground. They had practically won the league and he was sure that night no one would go to bed in the Gryffindor tower until the sky started to clear up.

But first, he had his own celebration with someone else.

With everyone fussing over Yahiko, no one noticed when he left the group and ran to meet Obito at the agreed place.

.

Slytherins weren't happy bunnies, and Obito didn't know how he had been able to suppress his euphoria in front of everyone right when he saw Gryffindor grab the snitch. At least, the smile he was trying to erase from his face looked more like a disappointed grimmace than anything else.

The prefects called everyone to organize the journey back to the castle and lead them to the great hall, but Obito had different intentions. Once inside Hogwarts, he didn't take his eyes off Kabuto, and as soon as he saw he was distracted telling some year one kids off, he took the chance to hide behind a column.

The murmur of voices gradually lost intensity until it faded away and Obito, his heart racing, started running to the opposite direction.

He wasn't sure if Deidara would go or not, he might be too busy celebrating Gryffindor victory and might have not had the chance to escape, but he had to try. When he reached the courtyard where they spent recess, he found him, he was still dressed in the Quidditch uniform but didn't bring the broom.

“Deidara!” he shouted.

His friend spun around laughing, as he ran to meet him.

“Did you see that!? Did you see how I beat your cousin and that friend of yours!?”

“Yes, I saw it! The best match since I started at Hogwarts!”

Obito planned to hug him, but Deidara threw himself at him and he had to use his arms to hold his body. Without his new workout routine, both would have ended up on the ground probably, but he managed to resist.

Both chuckled, immersed in their euphoria and Obito was unable to think of another happier moment.

What he suspected, was that such happiness wasn't as linked to Gryffindor's victory as it was to hugging Deidara. It was like drinking fresh water from a spring after having been thirsty for a long time. He didn't want to let go.

"Careful, I stink," Deidara said.

“So what? I didn't expect you to smell like flowers after playing Quidditch all day,” Deidara held tighter onto him, Obito was in heaven. “And plus, you've won. You can smell of whatever you please.”

He felt like stroking his hair right at that moment. He felt like kissing him. To grab his chin and brush his lips against Deidara's...

But what was he thinking?

His happiness transformed into sudden anxiety.

“Wait!” he shrieked, his voice too high-pitched.

He left him on the floor while Deidara stared at him, waiting for an explanation.

"My back is hurting," Obito lied, it happened to dad Madara often.

“Ha, you're so old. You scared me, hm.”

“I'm not! I've only been working out hard these days. Besides... I'm only one year older than you, if I'm old next year you will be old too.”

"I won't," Deidara replied, and stuck out his tongue.

"Maybe I'm not old, maybe you're a baby," he countered, proud of his idea.

"Nope, you're old," he giggled. When Deidara threw his arm around his shoulder, Obito felt that warm but alarming sensation again. “I'm starving, let's go with the others.”

“It's true, let's get your baby food.”

They started walking towards the great hall.

"Stop it, hm." Deidara tickled his side, right where he knew he felt ticklish, Obito squirmed, laughing. “I just beat Ravenclaw, have some respect.”

“And you did it perfect!”

Obito focused on everything he wanted to say about the game. He gushed about every time he scored or something interesting happened. He did it to stop those thoughts from earlier buzzing in his head. He might not have really wanted to kiss him. It might just have been a misunderstanding. He wished that the following days would prove him right. Deidara was his best friend. If he started to like him... What will become of him?

_What will become of them?_

* * *

Another egg hatched.

“Meet our boy Predator!”

Kurotsuchi raised the chick in her hands in front of the whole class. He stared at the students with his big round eyes. He was adorable, all covered in reddish down and with an incipient yellow crest on top of the head.

“And you, when are you going to get out of there?” Deidara looked at their egg.

They had all hatched but his. The rest of the class talked with their chicks just as they would to a human baby while professor Shizune walked around the tables giving advice.

“What if there's something wrong with the chick?” Obito couldn't stop repeating the same thing every now and then. He took the egg and checked it for the umpteenth time looking for cracks, but it was still intact. “What if they don't have the strength to break the shell?”

They crossed glances, Deidara would have wanted to reassure him but he was as worried as Obito.

“It can't be, it's been moving a lot lately, hm.”

That could only mean it was gonna hatch soon. Professor Shizune who was passing by, took the egg from Obito and studied it carefully.

“This little buddy seems to be in no hurry to get out of there.”

“But everything is fine... Right?”

“Not all eggs open at once, let's say a space of two days between the first and the last is normal.”

“But it's been two days since the first one opened!”

“Let's wait a bit longer. If it hasn't hatched by tomorrow, we'll give it a little push.”

“Can't we help it now?” Deidara asked, he was fed up of waiting.

"If the chick isn't ready to be born, we could cause a bleeding," the professor explained. "Tomorrow we don't have class but you can come to my office and we'll make a hole in the shell to see what's happening in there. Meanwhile, don't think too much about it, maybe they like to be late, like Obito."

He shrugged with giggling nervously.

“Just like dad.”

The teacher gave him a fond smile, passed the egg back to Deidara and walked away.

“Come on Suzaku! Break that shell! What are you waiting for, hm!?”

Kurotsuchi approached them.

"Looks like Predator won, Deidara-nii."

“This is not a competition! This is serious!” Obito retorted.

"Yeah," Deidara added, knowing very well that if Suzaku had been born before Predator, he would have said exactly the same thing.

"Fine, but when they face each other in a duel, ours will have an advantage," Anko added.

“We'll see, hm. Do you think I'm going to let my son lose a fight?”

“Fight?” Obito asked. “No. No fighting. They will be friends,” and coming closer to Deidara, he whispered. “But in a hypothetical fight, Suzaku would win.”

"Exactly," Deidara nodded. “Our bird will be the strongest one anyway.”

Since they didn't have much to do, Shizune sent them with Kurotsuchi and Anko to look after Predator. At the end of the hour, they collected everything and got ready to go to the next class.

“Can I keep the egg?” Obito said.

“It's my turn, hm.”

“But... I'm so worried and...!”

"I'll send Katsu to let you know if the shell breaks," Deidara cut him. “Do you think I was gonna let you miss the moment?”

Obito calmed down, or rather, he resigned himself to the fact that worrying wouldn't change anything.

“No. You're right. The egg will hatch when the time comes. See you later Dei. Get out of there soon, Suzaku-chan.”

He leaned down to leave a kiss on the bright and intact shell before walking away.

...

It was nearly half past two when an extra weight on the mattress made him sit up so fast that he got light headed. Obito, who was already awake when it happened, stared at Katsu. Deidara's snow owl groomed his feathers a bit before jumping towards him, a note in his beak.

“Katsu... How did you get in?”

Through the windows submerged beneath the surface of the lake it was obvious he didn't. But that was the least of his concerns when he had been waiting all day for that note. Obito snatched it away from the owl so fast that Katsu fluttered back, twittering in protest.

“Hey, I'm sorry.”

With shaky hands, he unfolded the paper.

"IT'S HATCHING. SECOND FLOOR GIRLS' HAUNTED BATHROOM. NOW."

He understood why Deidara had chosen that place. If they were gonna break the curfew, nobody would look for them there.

"But Kaguya..." he began. Obito's complaint got interrupted by Katsu pecking his hand. “Sorry, I have no treats right now.”

The bird twittered again, annoyed, flapping its wings. Someone grunted behind the curtains of a bunk bed.

“What's that?” the voice said.

“Shhhh,” Obito brought his index to his lips but Katsu protested again. “Don't make a fuss! I'll see if I can get something for you.”

With a heavy sigh he took his wand and opened the curtain. Luckily, Slytherin's bedroom had constant supplies of tea and ginger lizards to dip.

“Accio ginger lizards.”

Since all the lizards were sleeping, he didn't have to struggle to keep them from escaping the jar. He simply took one and handed it to Katsu, who calmed down as he grabbed it. Obito was finally able to jump out of bed, put on his robe over his pajamas, slippers to avoid making noise when walking, and sneaked out of the bedroom.

He went up the stairs and made sure Ibiki the janitor wasn't there before running to the secret passageway that led to the second floor. He took several deep breaths when he reached the girls' bathroom door. He was eager to see Suzaku, but he didn't want to see Kaguya's creepy face.

"Here we go," he muttered, as he opened the door. “Dei! Is the baby okay!? What is Tobi doing here?” He looked everywhere, looking for the ghost. “Where is Kaguya?”

“I sent Katsu to bring Tobi too. And I told Kaguya that all the male prefects from Hogwarts were planning a group bubble bath in the prefects bathroom. She went away and never came back. Suzaku-chan has already managed to break a hole.”

Grinning, Deidara showed Obito the small yellow beak that peeked out of an egg crack.

“Suzaku-chan!” Obito ran to kneel beside Deidara, who offered him the egg. The chick was cheeping. “I can't believe it! I can't believe it's happening! I can hear it! I can finally hear it!”

Obito struggled to hold back his tears, but the lump in his throat made it hard.

“It's been a while like that. I've been encouraging them, hm.”

“Professor Shizune said you have to let them do it by themselves. But that the parents crush the egg a little with their body to make it more flexible,” He breathed noisily and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “I don't think it'll hurt to help a bit. Don't you think?”

“No. They can do it without help,” Deidara replied.

“But just a tiny, tiny bit! Please!” he pleaded.

“Okay, a tiny bit only.”

A shell fragment split with a small crunch when Deidara inserted the tip of his nail into the hole and pulled. Obito prayed in his head for everything to go well, his heart was racing.

“There's no blood. That means it's time.”

“You can do it, Suzaku-chan!”

They still couldn't distinguish too much. Suzaku's beak had a wider space to move now, but beyond it there was only wet and reddish down. About ten minutes later, the chick had managed to make the hole bigger on their own.

“Look Dei, I see a claw!”

The tiny bluish claw poked through the shell. Obito brushed it with his finger, amazed at the huge difference in size. Tobi came over to look and Deidara pulled away a bit to make way for him.

“Now you must be a good older brother, hm. How about that?” he said stroking his plumage. “And where is Katsu?”

"It's true," Obito examined the room looking for him. “He must have gone through the rack.”

“Maybe he's jealous. He was jealous of Tobi at first.”

Then, Suzaku pushed the shell with the claw and split it in two. Obito squealed, Deidara too and the chick kicked, trying to break free.

“Suzaku-chan!”

Obito felt how they moved in his hand, warm and moist as they rolled over themselves to stand up. Again his eyes blurred with tears. A chick was born in his hands and it had been the most beautiful thing in the world. Suzaku was orange-red, with a white belly and large amber eyes outlined in dark brown.

“You did it!” Deidara stroked the tiny crest with a finger. “Well done, Suzaku-chan. You are a champion, just like me.”

Suzaku looked at them in turns, while taking a few clumsy steps on Obito's hands. Smiling, Deidara stood at his height and whistled. The chick responded by cheeping. Then he whistled twice and again he got two cheeps as answer.

When making eye contact with Deidara, Obito noticed his eyes looked watery too.

“Don't start crying you too!” Obito weeped louder, he couldn't stop.

“It's your fault, you fool! I'm getting it from you!”

“There's nothing wrong with that,” he said in a nasal voice, still hiccuping.

Then they discovered where Katsu had gone. When they saw him land in front of Suzaku, his beak loaded with insects.

* * *

The train slowed down when they were ten minutes away from the station. Obito looked at Deidara's luggage next to his own, at the three napping birds and finally at his friend, too absorbed watching the landscape that gradually changed from fields to city.

He was still next to him, but he would soon be away. Far away. Obito should feel lucky to have been able to see him every day in the past months, especially because they wouldn't spend too much time apart. Two months of summer, and they were spending two weeks at each other's house, but the rest of the time... The rest of the time was gonna be hard.

Deidara turned his head and caught him staring. Obito straightened at once, his heart skipping a beat.

“What are you thinking about?” he said.

”Made plans for when you come to see me, hm.”

“Oh! I was thinking about that too. Dad Madara sent me a letter saying you may come, but I can't skip classes.”

Deidara clicked his tongue.

“Is your father still obsessed with that? This year you haven't failed anything and your grades are decent. What else does he want?”

“Well you know. I'll carry on with occlumancy and legilimency. He also wants me to start practicing some fifth-year spells for the OWLs.”

“But there's still an eternity until the OWLs!”

“According to him, I'll thank him one day. He sais I'll never make a patronus on time if I don't start practicing now. It's the most complex of all the OWL spells."

“Oh, I like that one. I wish I could practice it too, I'll tell my mother to teach me.”

“I can teach you once I learn it!” Obito offered. “We were studying numerology of fate in arithmancy and I got the number three. In my book it said I'd have talent to communicate and teach so, leave it to me. I want to see if it's true!”

“Mmm,” Deidara placed his hand on his chin, looking at him with interest. “I wonder which one is my number of fate. How do you calculate it?”

"Yours is one," he let out without thinking. He regretted a second later.

“Did you calculate it already and didn't tell me anything?”

“Sorry! I was just practice, a class assignment, I didn't think you would be interested,” it wasn't the truth, but if he told him he calculated it on his own Obito was going to pass out of too much embarrassment.

“What does number one mean?”

"That you are unique," he said, disguising the compliments he would like to tell him but lacked the courage to do so, Deidara smiled. “And bright and creative and independent.”

“Anything else, hm?" he asked, straightening up.

"A little, too stubborn," Obito replied, leaving a tiny gap between his thumb and forefinger.

“There's nothing wrong with being right.”

Obito had been trying for months to make his crush on Deidara go away, but in the end he had no choice but to give up. At first he assumed Deidara would never notice him, with those hideous marks on his face he didn't consider himself too good looking. Now he wanted to believe that a reality where he asked him out and Deidara said yes was possible. They both told everything to each other, but that was a topic they had never talked about, apart from the anonymous Valentine's day chocolates Deidara received just days after his birthday and that fortunately Deidara never took seriously. Obito needed to know, he was also afraid to discover the truth but he needed to know. If only he didn't feel an unbearable need to bury himself alive just by thinking about asking him.

He didn't know where the idea of sneaking for a moment in his mind came from. He hated what he was doing, but he couldn't stand not knowing. Deidara was concentrated again, watching the landscape. Obito took the wand out to channel his magic. He whispered the spell that the rattle of the train helped to camouflage and started probing the limits of his mind.

The first thing he felt was enthusiasm. He went a little further, his hands sweating from all the anxiety and remorse. Enthusiasm was associated with their plans for the summer, that was the next thing he discovered. Then Deidara shook his head and rubbed his forehead. Obito lowered his wand slowly, his gut churned in self-disgust. How did he even think that doing that was acceptable?

Even if it made him happy to know that Deidara was looking forward to seeing him again, Obito decided not to do something like that anymore. A couple more minutes passed until he dared to say something.

“In a few minutes we will arrive at the station. Better say goodbye now, outside there will be too much noise and people.”

In the hallway outside the compartment, the students were already crowding, with their trunks and animals to get out of the train faster. Deidara nodded.

“Good luck in your lessons. Show me your patronus as soon as you get it, hm. And don't forget to send me letters about how's Suzaku doing.”

And Obito wanted to hug him more than ever, he used to do it often. He didn't even dare anymore.

“I will learn that spell and then I'll teach it to you. It's a promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because in Naruto Karin can feel chakra, in this AU she is something similar to a seer.
> 
> Also in canon Hidan is a religious guy, so I checked the bible for some weird curse, and found out there's one in 1 Samuel 5:12 that says so: "and the men that died not were smitten with the hemorrhoids; and the cry of the city went up to heaven."
> 
> The hoo-hoo bird is based on the one from the Potterpedia.
> 
> Teams so far:
> 
> Gryffindor: Kisame, Karin, Deidara, Hidan, Yahiko and two nameless chasers  
> Ravenclaw: Darui, Kakashi, Itachi, Konan, Aoba and two nameless beaters  
> Slytherin: Mangetsu Hozuki, Obito, Anko, Neji, a nameless beater and two chasers


End file.
